Controlling mechanism for electric vehicles



No. 751,581. PATENTED FEB. 9, 1904. F. S. WAHL.

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

APPLIUATION FILED DEC. 21, 1901.

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I. S. WAHL.

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 21, 1901.

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75 rensfanca UNITED STATES Patented February 9, 1904.

PATENT ()FFICE.

FRANK S. lVAI-IL, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,581, dated February9, 1904.

Application filed December 21, 1901. Serial No. 86,819. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK S. WAHL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Controlling Mechanismfor Electric Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in controlling-levers for electricvehicles; and the objects of the invention are, first, to combine acontroller and brake-lever in one located with due regard for comfort intraveling and ease of manipulation; second, to secure a long brakeleverage; third, to secure a footplatform free from push-buttons andlevers; fourth, to reduce the movement or swing of the controlling-leverto a small are; fifth, to prevent a setting of brake with current on,and, lastly, to provide a reverse always at hand and bell push-buttonsat thumbs end.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in view theinvention consists in certain novel and useful features of constructionclearly set forth in the following description of parts and distinctlypointed out in the claims concluding this specification.

In the drawings forming part hereof and illustrating my invention,Figure 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of an electriccarriage, showing my improved controlling and brake lever installed.Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the lower part of the lever andbase. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the brake-lever and base.Fig. i is a detail in plan of the controller-disk. Fig. 5 is a detailview. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic View of the controller and its wiring.

Like letters of reference designate identical parts throughout thefigures of the drawings.

The lever A is pivoted upon a transverse bolt (6, journaled in theupright cars a and (4 of a casting [0 secured to the floor X of thevehicleY in approximately the center thereof, so that the lever willproject through the center of the seat, permitting the operator to situpon either side. Pivoted upon the same bolt, thereby providing a commonaXis,is a brake-lever B, which projects downwardly through an opening ain the base of the casting and through the floor of the vehicle. Thislever is formed with a sector-shaped part Z2, which projects abovethe-bolt a and is concentric therewith. The part b is bifurcated, as ato, and upon the periphery of each sector at the rear thereof is ashoulder I). The lever A is mounted upon the transverse bolt (0 in thebifurcation of the sector-shaped part I). A rod G is mounted in guides0, attached to the upper and lower parts of the lever A, and is providedat the lowerend with a wide catch 0, adapted to engage with theshoulders 6 of the sector-shaped part of the brake-lever B. Acoil-spring upon the rod and confined between guides c c presses thecatch into contact with the periphery of the sector-shaped parts of thebrake-lever. The upper end of this rod eX- tends into thedetachablespade-shaped handle A of the lever A and is provided at itstip with a transverse grip c.

The length of the depending brake-lever B is proportioned to the lengthof the lever A, so as to give a leverage of approximately one to eight.At its end the brake-lever is provided with an eye for the attachment ofthe sectional brake-rod B, and adjustment of the brake action isobtained by means of a turnbuckle o connecting the sections of thebrakerod, and a set-screw 5", mounted in a lug 7/ upon the base of thecasting a at the rear of the lever. duce the are of movement of the saidlever when braking.

Below the seat-line a rearwardly-extending rack-bar D is attached to thelever A, and this rack-bar, the teeth of which are on the under side,engages with a toothed pinion (Z, secured to the controller-shaft d of acontroller. On the same shaft is secured a notched disk (Z the severalnotches in which register with the movable contacts of the controller,which may be of any design.

The lever is provided with a pawl E, which may be set in engagement witha toothed bar or ratchet E, secured to the seat adjacent to the side ofthe lever to hold the brake in a set or locked position when the vehiclemay be standing on a grade or whenever desirable. A spring 0, pressingagainst the arm of the pawl, serves to hold the same normally free Thisset-screw is designed to refrom engagement with the ratchet. The spadehandle is provided at each end of the grip with push-buttons e a in thebattery-circuit and connected to actuate an alarm-bell a.

I employ, preferably, a five-point controller H, provided with the usualstationary contacts F and with movable contacts G, G, and G for threespeeds forward, first, second, and third forward, and a reverse G on thefirst speed, together with an off position. The disk (Z which isprovided with notches (Z for the three speeds forward and for thereverse and off positions, has a contiguous springpressed detent (Zwhich engages with the notches. There is no notch on the disk for thebrake position, thereby giving a smooth pull, and the brake action takesplace one-half notch back of the off position, giving one-half of offnotch plus the space allotted for braking for the setting of same.

hen the lever A is in a vertical position, it is at the off or coastingnotch, also to be used when charging the batteries. Three positions ofthe lever forward give the three speeds ahead, requiring not more thannine inches of swing for the handle of the lever. The operator wishingto stop pulls lever A back until the catch 0 engages with the shoulders7/ on the sector-shaped part b of the brakelever. Further movement ofthe lever turns the brake-lever on the common axis a and actuates thebrake-rod B. To reverse, the catch 0 is lifted, which releases thebrake, and the lever A is moved back to last position, turning the disk(Z on the controller-shaft over to the reverse notch. To set the brakefrom this position of the controller, it is pushed forward until thecatch 0 drops back over the shoulders on the sector-shaped parts 6,which brings the lever to the off position. From there the lever ispulled back and the brake set, as heretofore described. It will be notedthat the reverse cannot be applied while braking, as the brake isadjusted for application within the limits of the off and reverse. benoted that in controlling the current must be cut off from anyrunning-notch before applying the brake,which fact prevents overloadingof the motor and batteries and also prevents accidents which might occurto nervous operators and amateurs.

The vehicle may be supplied with a reversible steering apparatus, theconstruction of which is too well known to need illustration here. Forthe same reason the motors need no illustration.

From the foregoing description of parts it will be seen that I haveprovided a very simple controlling and brake lever of few parts,

and the situation and construction are such as to greatly relieve themind of the operator and add to his case and comfort in mobiling.Simplicity of operation is secured through the employment of but onelever for running, braking, reversing, and sounding the warn- It willalso ing-bell, and this lever requires merely a forward and backwardmovement to secure the above results. "he long leverage gives anenormous brake-pull, insuring a substantial grip of the brake-shoes. Thereverse is always at hand in case of the necessity for an exceptionallyquick stop or in getting the vehicle out of danger.

The absence of floor-pushes, treads, &c., gives the operator theprivilege of shifting his feet at will and .does not necessitate asearch for an important piece of controlling mechanism if he has for anyreason moved his foot therefrom and prevents cramping of the bodythrough a stiff or strained position held for any length of time.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automobile vehicle, the combination of driving means, acontroller for said driving means, means for reversing said drivingmeans, and a mechanical brake; a lever common to the controller and thereversing means and adapted to operate each separately from the other bymovement in opposite directions from a given, neutral ordeenergizingpoint in the arc of movement of the lever, and-means for engaging thelever with the brake mechanism and operating the latter, withoutactuating either the controller or the reverse, upon movement of thelever in a given direction from the said neutral or deenergizing point.

2. The combination with amotor-vehicle, of a motor-controller comprisinga reversingswitch and a controller-shaft, revoluble in one directionfrom the neutral or open-circuit position, to supply energy, and in theother direction to operate the reverse-switch, of means connected withthe controller-shaft and adapted to operate same in either direction, amechanical brake, and mechanism connecting said means with said brakeand adapted to be operated by the movement of the controlleroperatingmeans from the neutral position in the direction for actuating thereversingswitch.

3. The combination with a motor-driven vehicle, a motor-controllerprovided with a reverse, operated by the controller-shaft, and brakemechanism, of a single lever and connections between said lever and thecontrollershaft and brake mechanism, whereby the lever may operate thecontroller, the reverse and the brake mechanism separately.

4. The combination with an electric vehicle, amotor-controller providedwith a reverse, operated by the controller-shaft, and brake mechanism,of a lever pivotally secured to the said vehicle, means connecting thesaid lever with the controller-shaft so that the current is ofi' whenthe lever is in its normal position, and the shaft is rotated so thatthe circuit is made when the lever is moved in one di- ITO rection fromits normal, while the reverse is actuated when the lever is moved in anopposite direction from its normal; and means connecting said lever withthe brake mechanism, whereby the latter may be operated by the leverfrom its normal position only, without closing the circuit.

5. The combination with an electric vehicle and the motor-controller, ofrotating mechanism attached to the shaft of the controller, a

controller-lever pivotally mounted in said vehicle, connections betweenthe rotating mechanism and said lever, a brake-lever journaled on thecontroller-lever pivot, brake mechanism attached to said brake-lever,and mechanism for engaging the controller-lever with the brake-leverwhen the brake mechanism is to be actuated.

6. The combination with an electric vehicle and a motor-controller,constructed with a reverse operated by the controller-shaft, a diskattached to the controller-shaft and provided With notches for eachforward speed, the off and the reverse, a spring-pressed detent engagingWith said notches, a toothed pinion mounted on said controller-shaft, acontrollerlever pivotally mounted on the floor of the vehicle, arack-bar attached to said controllerlever and engaging with said pinion,brake mechanism, and a brake-lever with means for engagement with thecontroller-lever, when the brakes are to be applied, substantially asdescribed.

7. The combination with an electric vehicle and a motor-controller, ofrotating mechanism attached to the shaft of the controller, a pivotallever connected with the said shaft-rotating mechanism, brake mechanism,a brake-lever, connected with said mechanism, and journaled upon thepivot of the controller-lever, sector-shaped bifurcated parts projectingfrom said brake-lever on each side of the controllerlever and above thepivotal point, shoulders on the periphery of said sector-shapedbifurcated parts, a spring-pressed catch mounted on the controller-leverfor engagement with said shoulders.

8. The combination with an electric vehicle and a motor-controller, ofrotating mechanism attached to the shaft of the controller, a pivotallever connected with said shaft-rotating mechanism, brake mechanism, abrake-lever, connected with said mechanism, and journal ed upon thepivot of the controller-lever, sectorshaped bifurcated parts projectingfrom said brake-lever on each side of the controller-lever and above thepivotal point, shoulders on the FRANK S. VVAHL.

Witnesses:

ALBERT A. BEUTTER, ELLsWoRTH J. RICHARD.

